Providence invests in partnership automation firm

Providence Strategic Growth (PSG), the growth equity affiliate of Providence Equity Partners, has led a US$75 million investment in Impact, a partnership automation platform used by Ticketmaster.

PSG forms part of asset management firm Providence, targeting investments in middle market software and technology-enabled service companies.

Providence’s flagship private equity firm, Providence Equity Partners, is the parent company of festival operator Superstruct Entertainment and event tech company Patron Technology.

Providence Equity Partners has recently invested in a host of live event-related businesses including concert touring infrastructure supplier Tait, venue operator Ambassador Theatre Group and sports marketing agency Learfield.

Impact automates discovery, recruitment, onboarding, engagement and optimisation across all types of partnerships and aims to become the “fastest-growing revenue channel” for participating organisations.

“Impact’s platform allows us to create and scale direct partnerships to drive new revenue more efficiently than in the past”

“Impact’s platform allows us to create and scale direct partnerships to drive new revenue more efficiently than in the past,” says Dan Armstrong, senior vice president and general manager of distributed commerce at Ticketmaster, one of Impact’s users.

“We’ve enabled discovery and purchase through unique partnerships with social media platforms, music streaming services and major publishers on a global scale. Impact helps us understand the value we create through these partners, allowing us to focus more of our time on innovation,” adds Armstrong.

“There’s been an explosion of innovation around new types of partnerships being forged to grow enterprise revenue,” comments Impact chief executive David Yovanno. “With support from PSG, Impact will be able to further evolve its integrated platform to empower businesses to grow their revenue effectively and efficiently.”

PSG’s marketing managing director, Marco Ferrari, says the company is “excited to invest in and partner with Impact as they grow and develop new technologies to automate, scale and optimise partnership programs for enterprises worldwide.”

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